At Cooper Dental Group in Ormond Beach, FL, we’re concerned about every aspect of your oral health.
Our advanced general dentistry services cover your family’s needs for strong, healthy teeth that produce a beautiful smile. We’ll help your little ones develop good oral hygiene habits that will endure through their teen and adult years. Good at-home dental care combined with our professional dental services will keep you smiling confidently your whole life.
General Dentistry Services
There’s nothing like working with a dentist you can trust for quality dental care. By offering safe, conscientious general dentistry services, our team makes it easy for you to maintain healthy gums and teeth. We stay on top of the latest dental technology and techniques to make your treatment as smooth and productive as possible. For your convenience, we offer the following general dentistry services for you and your family:
- Comprehensive dental exams and cleanings
- Digital x-rays
- Cavity treatments
- Root canal therapy
- Tooth extractions
- Dental crowns, dental bonding, and veneers
- Periodontal treatments
- Dentures and bridges
- Dental implants
We want you to feel comfortable and secure in our care. For this reason, we tailor our services to meet your unique dental care needs.
Dental Cleanings & Exams
Caring for your dental health takes more than just brushing and flossing your teeth. The foundation of a healthy, beautiful smile consists of two essential factors: at-home dental care and two dental appointments per year. Unfortunately, many patients observe daily routine maintenance but don’t adhere to regular dental checkups.
Our team of dentists reminds patients of the importance of regular dental exams. These checkups reduce the occurrence of long-term dental problems and assist in dealing with oral issues before they become painful and costly to treat. If it’s been years before you last saw a dentist, now is the time to redeem your healthy smile. Please book an appointment with our team at Cooper Dental Group for a comprehensive dental exam.
What To Expect During A Dental Exam
Even though you think your teeth and gums are in great shape, dental exams unearth oral issues that may have escaped your notice. Dental exams involve various procedures to ensure we leave no stone unturned.
- Physical examinations: Our dentists examine each tooth, as well as the gums, to ensure nothing is missed. The objective is to look for signs of cavities, gum disease, failing dental work, and other abnormalities.
- Digital x-rays: Your dentist can only see so much by just looking and physically probing your mouth. We unearth issues lurking beneath your gum line through digital radiographs. Through x-ray imaging, we can spot problems like hidden cavities, wisdom teeth, bone loss, jaw misalignment, cysts, etc.
- Oral cancer exam: Our dental team examines your soft tissues to spot ulcerations, lesions, bumps, sores, and other abnormalities that might indicate the presence of mouth cancer.
- Dental cleaning: Despite how diligent you are in cleaning your mouth, you can’t access all the nooks and crannies of your mouth. Professional dental cleanings remove plaque and tartar in “tricky” spots in your mouth.
Preventative Dentistry Services
Preventative dentistry is crucial because it helps avoid serious dental problems like tooth decay and gum disease. By keeping your teeth and gums healthy, you can avoid costly dental treatments down the road. Additionally, some dental issues, such as periodontal disease, cannot be cured, only maintained, so avoiding its development in the first place can save a smile! With this in mind, our Cooper Dental Group team in Ormond Beach, FL, may recommend routine visits to keep the teeth and gums healthy for life!
What are some standard preventative measures patients can take to maintain healthy smiles?
Below are just a few of the regular preventative dentistry services available at the Cooper Dental Group:
Our team evaluates a patient’s smile when they arrive to look for signs of problems such as tooth decay, periodontal disease, or oral cancer.
Every six months, patients are advised to visit our practice for a professional dental cleaning called prophylaxis. Our dental hygienists perform this before the evaluation to remove plaque, tartar, and calculus from the surfaces of the teeth and gums.
During routine visits, our dental hygienists may take dental images such as x-rays. That allows our dentists to look at the structures of the smile that cannot be seen during a physical evaluation alone.
Fluoride is a mineral that can harden and strengthen natural tooth enamel. Patients can protect their smiles against tooth decay and disease by applying fluoride during routine visits.
Sealants are a way of smoothing rough teeth like the molars to reduce the depth of crevices that can contribute to tooth decay. The sealant is placed during a regular dental evaluation and cleaning to offer extra protection against cavities.
To obtain and maintain good oral hygiene, patients need to take steps at home to keep their smiles clean and healthy. That includes brushing after every meal and flossing at least once a day. We can talk to patients about their oral hygiene routine and determine if changes must be made to meet their dental health needs.
Oral Cancer Screenings
Did you know that about 54,000 Americans are diagnosed yearly with mouth (oropharyngeal) cancer? Unfortunately, the American Cancer Society reports that about 11,230 of these patients succumb to the disease! Mouth cancer is a deadly health condition, mainly because many cases are positively identified when the disease has reached advanced, destructive stages.
At Cooper Dental Group, we take your health seriously; that’s why oral cancer screenings are a vital part of our comprehensive dental exams. Once we identify abnormalities in your oral structures, steps are taken to confirm the diagnosis and to start treatment early.
What To Expect From An Oral Cancer Exam
An oral cancer test is a simple, painless, and quick procedure that can save your life. Screening involves looking inside your mouth to spot lesions, sores, and white or red patches. Using gloved hands, your dentist probes your mouth to identify lumps, nodes, and other abnormalities. We also physically examine your throat and neck to check for unusual signs.
Some dentists use special tests beyond physical and visual testing. We can rinse your mouth with a special dye before an exam. Abnormal cells may soak up the dye, appearing blue. We can also shine a special light in your mouth. Healthy tissues appear dark, while abnormal ones appear white. We may order further tests like a biopsy to confirm the diagnosis depending on your results.
Why Oral Cancer Screening Is Important
Like all forms of cancer, detecting mouth cancer early is crucial in treating it successfully. One of the reasons cancer is lethal is that it’s found in its advanced stages. Early cancer detection helps doctors stop cancer before it spreads to other body parts.
Even if you have oral cancer symptoms, it can be challenging to spot them yourself. However, an experienced dentist can see what’s happening inside your mouth and identify anything unusual. This fact makes routine oral exams crucial. We don’t just check your mouth for cavities and gum disease — we scrutinize your oral structures for mouth cancer.
Nightguards & Mouthguards
Our team offers special oral appliances for the following concerns:
- Sports mouthguards. Sports mouthguards are an effective way of protecting the smile from unwanted damage caused by a blow to the mouth or teeth during high-contact sports. These customized appliances are created using impressions of your teeth to ensure proper fit and function. These are more effective than boil-and-bite mouthguards found at drugstores which do not provide as much protection as professional-grade options.
- Nightguards for TMJ. Patients diagnosed with TMJ/TMD may find themselves experiencing a wide range of symptoms, from muscle tension to poor bite alignment. The temporomandibular joint can impact one’s quality of life, so treating it with a nightguard is an effective solution for many of our patients at Cooper Dental Group.
- Teeth grinding protection. In addition, our team may suggest using an oral appliance or nightguard for teeth grinding. This condition, also known as bruxism, can cause unwanted wear and tear on the smile and result in the need for dental treatments and therapies. Instead, wearing a nightguard to reduce the tension caused by clenching and grinding the teeth is an excellent way of protecting the smile.
Do I Need A Mouthguard Or A Nightguard?
During a consultation visit, one of our dentists will evaluate your smile and discuss your lifestyle and habits to determine if you could benefit from a special appliance for daytime activities or nighttime protection.